St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-12-04
The Light Of Woman's Love
Shed on the Thorny Path
of Her Sex's Frailty,
To Relieve the Moral Dyspep-
STA Which Follows the Taste
of the Forbidden Fruit.
An Institution Which Ends the
Downward Path and Points
the Upward One.
Good Work Of the Maternity
Hospital--A Monument to
Charitable Ladies.

In the great and varied range of char
acterS drawn by that wizard of human
ity, Charles Dickens, there is none that
appeals more swiftly to our sympathieS,
or touches more surely all the softer
fibers of the heart, than that scene
wherein is described the birth of Oliver
Twist in the cold, barren ward of an
English workhouse. The arrival of the
desOlate, nameleSS woman; the pain
and travail through which she passed
and subsequently her death-all this
has been told by the master mind SO
pathetically that, once read, the story is
not soon forgotten. Time does not
change mankind very materially. The
women run on from year to
year, from century to century,
and following them come the
brok EN- hearts, the despairing suicides,
the grueSOme crimes; and all from
what, but eating of the forbidden fruit,
a theme sung of by all the poets in the
ol0en times, and philosophical over by
all the writers whose thought was
broad and sweeping enough for the
mysteries of this life.
THE OLD, OLD PLAY
of love and romance is being acted
daily here in Minneapolis as we'll as
elsewhere. The cOnfiding hearts, suf
fused with love, trembling with agita
ton, becoming firm, wavering, pauSing,
bearing an intense burden of uncer
tainty in their souls, wrestling in that
wonderful battle where wOman'S vir-
tue is assailed. These women are in
our midst to-day. Innocent, lovable in
all thingS-pure-the meet some man
in the store where they work. whe re
they hire, where they board: they become
acquainted. They meet; they fall in
love; the tempter insidiously, slowly.
cautiously lays his trap; the mighty
conflict already described commences to
work within the maiden's breast. She
has passed from the things of our num-
dane existence and for the nOnce she is
living in the fields of thrilling ecStacy,
the atmosphere which she breathes is
permeated by delicious fancies-SOft
spells-and all the witchery of love. In
this condition the fatal step is taken,
and then the course awakening blinds
the sight; the deSertiOn of the man fol-
lows, and left alone with great trial
before her how many women have found
SurceaSe from their sorrow on
THE DARK PLUTONIAN SHORE.
It is sad and most pitiful that such has
been the stormy fate of many an unfOr-
tunate female. far more sinned against
than SHINING, and yet the hand of SOci
ETY. places her apart, an OutcaSt, and
the skirts of he less faulty
sisters are drawn from any
contact with hers. In fact, for all in
tents and purposes, she is alone in the
world. 1t is pleasant, therefore, to find
there is haven open gladly, happily
open, to receive such unfortunate crea-
lures. 1t is pleasant to think there are
Christian women, loving women, burst
ing with charity for all such Outcasts.
1t is like breath of fresh air to grasp
this fact-that while the great outside
world Spurns them and SCOTS at them,
once inside the walls of the MinneapO-
lis maternity hospital they are as safe
from harm as the tinieSt baby lying
upon its mothers breast, and can open
their eyes at morn to find in those
around them, whether it be DR.. Ripley,
the admitting physician; Mrs. NJ. A.
Anderson, the matrOn, or Mrs. Ella
Shaffer, the nurSe-women who are YER
table angels in disguise. This institu-
ton was organized just one year ago,
and in that short time it has done a
most noble work and been SO appre-
ciated that, according to the exigencies
of the time, changes have had to be
made from one building to another, in
accordance with the repeated
DEMAND FOR MORE SPACE.
Three months ago the present build
ing was first entered upon. Its location
is at % to % Fourth avenue south. The
house is handsome double brick build
ing, easy of access, and filled with all
the latest appliances both for physical
comfort and surgical use. On the first
floor of the south side may be found the
pleasant reception room, the cheerful
sunny nursery, the handsome dining
hall and the comfortable and convenient
kitchen, while the chambers above and
the entire north side are devoted to the
bed rooms of patients and nurses. The
design of this institution is briefly as
follows: To assist worthy women in that
most trying time of a woman's existence,
childbirth, and the actual women this
applies to are: First, married women
who are without means or suitable
abode or care; second, girls who, under
promise of marriage, have been led
astray, and, third, the children who are
destitute and were born in. the institu-
ton. The Secretary's report is mel
anchOly comment on the
MISERY AND SfNFULNEss
so rife in the world all the time. 1t is
record of wives left absolutely pennilesS
and friendless in this great city; of
young girls, respectable girls, daught-
ers of professional and business men,
not vicious females by any means, but
who, led by speciOus promises, surrender
that which ought to be dearer to them
to bitterly repent the mistaken
being known not to smile for
months and months, so keenly do they
feel the bitterness of their position. A
splendid feature of the hospital is that
each girl is kept till respectable posi-
ton can be got for her and by this step
her safety is insured by these ladies
who have reScured so many females
from suicide or life of shame. The
Maternity hospital is a grand, noble
charity and its initial existence, its con-
tinued prosperity and its ample future
are due largely to the untiring energy
and enterprise of DR.. Ripley. Any
article on this subject would be entirely
wanting in justice were this need of
praise omitted to this well known lady
physician. for 1t was she who started
the hospital in little wooden building,
336 Fifteenth Sue east, and from this
humble beginning has sprouted forth
the splendid quarters that are occupied
to-day. This is work of which DR..
Ripley may well be proud to take the
great interest she does in it. 1t will for
all time be
A REPRESENTATIVE MONUMENT
in this city of her zeal in the cause of a
noble and most worthy charity. The
average citizen little knows the enor-
nous lot of good done by the society
women of Minneapolis, nevertheless in
a quiet, transformations mapney very